"GPs incompetence in dealing with mental illness led to son's death-another perspective"

For 5 years we helped our son deal bravely with his worsening mental illness but with what we felt was little or no help from our GP. In fact in our view their responses were difficult to obtain (ignorantly quoting patient confidentiality in this case), and they aggravated the situation. My son, who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, became convinced that doctors and their entourage were all involved in the 'plot' against him, as he imagined. No wonder then that medication was declined. As a result, in our view the NHS wrote him off as far as contact and support went, presumably waiting for an 'incident' which they could classify as concrete. However, though there was a street incident involving the police in 2007 this was never brought to the GPs attention for action, and my appeals for better care and support were ignored. There was an incident where in my view the GP lied to me about a requested attendance at the house. Their resultant actions destroyed my son's and my confidence in their abilities altogether and led to my son losing his trust in us (parents) also. He would not again talk freely about his suffering. He killed himself to escape his mental torment - which the GP could have helped with had they shown more empathy and less intransigence. The GP has learned nothing as far as I can tell. I have also reported my story under the mental health trust BSMHT as it appears that never the twain shall meet as regards having a joined-up service, and I wouldn't like the GPs to be left out from commenting. Refers to: GPs, Solihull Care Trust